make the most of my internship experience

it’s time to retire this goal…I’ve been home from my internship for a few days now.

I miss the people terribly. G! wrote me the nicest things (we each had affirmation books that everyone wrote in). I think I cried a little. What a guy. I wish I could have brought them back here with me. It always seems to happen that I meet great people and then they are gone and I’m back to square one.

To be completely honest, I didn’t make the most of the internship the entire time I was there. Sometimes I felt a bit down and hopeless and just had no engery. But I gave it all I could most of the time, and now the 7 weeks have passed and I’m back in California.

here are some pictures from my internship.
There’s one of G! (he’s the one sitting on the tricycle), a group photo (without me) and one of the daycamp kids.

the new icon is of me and a couple of girls from the daycamp

I’ve got two weeks of my internship left. Yep, I’m flying home two weeks from today. I’m finding it increasingly harder to make the most of this experience and not pull myself away from the group. Ack.

I’m so glad orientation week is over. it’s been very very very intense. You can check out my blog for some of the first things I did, but to get a general sense here are some things:

Cutting down small trees, yoga, fixing up a church in West Philly, diversity workshop, workshop on life in Prison (Pennsylvania doesnt have the option of “life with the possibility of parole” – Life is life), touring the local towns, eating homemade bread and lots of salads. I’m sure there are other things and I’ll write about them as they come to mind.

Well, here I am in a small small Pennsylvania town. The place I’m staying at has a lot of trees. I saw my first fireflies last night. Every here is friendly and nice, casual and laidback.

The food is healthy – no taco bell in our dining hall! I’ve discovered that I don’t like homemade bread and that eating healthy is going to be a bigger adjustment than I anticipated.

My room is great…corner room, so two big windows, a nice big bed, bulit in bookshelf, etc etc. There is an art studio here…a great big one! I might take this opportunity to learn how to use a pottery wheel and make a few pots. The library is also bigger than I anticipated and has many of the books I look for at Barnes & Noble but have to put back because I can’t afford to buy them all.

Ive had lots of time to relax because the program doesnt start until later today. Arriving 24 hours early was a smart idea.

I’m off!

Hey everyone, thanks so much for all your thoughts and kind words and support for me going on this internship. It’s all very exciting. I’ve been busy “being social with interesting people” so I’m behind on entries. Today is my last day in Los Angeles and I have a ton to do, so I’ll have to play catch-up in Pennsylvania.

So, thanks for everything and I’ll see you all when i get there!

~CD

In addition to working at the day camp twice a week, on the other weekdays, back at the place where I’m living, there’s breakfast, then everyone meets (this includes staff, interns, visitors, etc), then the other interns and myself have group journaling, “work crews” (gardening, cooking, painting, etc), various workshops, and group time at night which could consist of any myriad of things.

Other stuff

• Cooking
• Painting buildings
• Gardening
• Hugging trees
• Yoga (which I’ve never done, and it was my intent to exercise a bit before leaving for PA, just so I could prepare myself for daily excercise)
• Music/Singing
• Camping (possibly…never been camping before)
• Hiking/Rock climbing (possibly…also have never rock climbed)
• Drumming and Capoeira (which i have really wanted to try)
• Songwriting workshop

During my time off, I’d like to attend the Live 8 concert in Philly (w/o this internship, there wouldnt even be a possibility of attending), visit NYC, and visit Washington DC. We’ll see how all of those work out.

What I fear most is (1) Yoga – Im not “fat” or even overweight…but that doesnt mean Im in shape. I havent done regular excercise since…oh, 2000 – back when PE was required. I’ve worked out a dozen times maybe in the past 5 years…so this yoga stuff is freaking me out…esp. since Im not flexible. Also, Im interested in yoga and attempted it before, but man, I just couldnt do it. I have no endurance. Why? Because I havent exercised in 5 years! (2) I dont know whats expected in the music/singing area. I dont play any music, so i cant be forced to do anything there…but the singing. I dont sing well and I have stage fright…but again, Im starting new, so I can pretend I dont have stage fright. I dont really sing in front of people, and Im not sure Im prepared to start.

But as you can see, for 7 weeks, theres a lot for me to be involved with. I know how Ive been in the past, repeatedly saying no to new experiences Im uncertain about. Id like to keep the “no’s” to a minimum.

I’ll be staying at this retreat center kind of place…kind of hard to explain and Id rather not have the exact info about the place blasted over the internet. I’m happy to share privately though.
But, here are some details about where I’m staying

• I’ll have my own room “overlooking a small meadow” – I haven’t seen too many meadows in my time. And I haven’t had my own room since I’ve been in college. I don’t want my room to be a crutch. I don’t want to retreat there and become anti-social, but I will use it to spend time reading and doing journal writing.

• There’s a library with internet access that I can go to whenever I have free time. Obviously this is good because its a LIBRARY (books, duh) and there’s the INTERNET.

• I will have access to facilities at Swarthmore College (incl. gym, pool, library, computer labs). It’ll be fun to make use of a college that isnt mine.

• Apparently there’s an art studio on the facility. I’m no artist, but I’ll check it out.

• There are trails, parks, etc etc and since I don’t have too many of those in LA, it would be nice to get some walking and exploring done.

So, it sounds like a really nice place to stay, and there are a couple of towns in walking distance, plus the college campus nearby. I will not spend my free time sitting alone in my room. I will not.

Edit – ok there are parks in Los Angeles, Im just assuming these parks will be different and more relaxing-like (relaxing-like…what a weird phrase)

• The two directors of my program.

• The other program participants (other 18-24 year olds, including two from Argentina!)

• The other people at the center where I’m staying

• The volunteers and children I’ll be working with at my internship site.

• Any random people I meet along the way in PA (and NY and DC, if i make it there during my free time).

I want to take this opportunity to be less shy and more social. It’ll be a great challenge I know, but I’m going to try. The fun part about going some place where no one knows me is that, in a sense, I don’t have to carry all my baggage with me. Its a nice new fresh start.

I will…(straight from the job description)

“work with the _ on the day camp. 25 neighborhood children will gather for swimming, picnicking and field trips, and occasionally, arts and crafts projects. There may be opportunities to work in the yard or garden according to your interest. Past activities have included a roller-skating party, a barbecue, a day at the New Jersey shore, and a trip to the Franklin Institute (science museum). There may also be opportunities for working with the newsletter, and in the abandoned lot campaign.”

So, twice a week, during my internship, I will get to do what I love – work with children. The other stuff will be nice too, should I need help. I enjoy writing, so helping with the newsletter would be nice. I also care about the environment, but don’t take enough action, so helping with the campaign could be a very good opportunity for me.

Only one week left in Los Angeles!